Free The Hawk and the Jewel (Kensington Chronicles 1) by Lori Wick

no definition between her waist and hips.
    It was now so clear why Indira had wanted her to accept herself as she was. She knew the truth. Sunny tried to accept that fact herself, but it was hard. She took a moment and thought about the feet that looks and body shapes could run in families. If only she knew what her mother looked like.
    **If only I could see her, just for an instant, I might know some rest."
    "See who?"
    Brandon was suddenly at her side, her shoes in his hand. She shot a long-suffering look in his direction and then bent to put them on.
    He watched as she slipped into them, then smiled into the flushed face she had raised to his. She didn't blush often, and he wondered over the thoughts he had obviously interrupted.
    "Would you like to be alone?" he asked with his normal sensitivity.
    "Not really," she spoke as the embarrassment faded. "I was just thinking about my mother."
    Brandon nodded. "Anything in particular?"
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    ttl was wondering what she looked like," she told him softly, looking younger than her 14 years.
    "She was a beautiful woman, with hair the color of yours. Her eyes were dark blue, and people said she had the warmest smile in all of England.**
    Sunny smiled at the image, but her eyes were troubled. He had said nothing of her frame. She looked out to sea as her heart ran with ways of asking what was sure to be an inappropriate question.
    In Darhabar, or rather in the emir's palace, a person's body was considered a thing of beauty. Sunny was starting to see that this was not so in England, at least not on this ship. Whenever she came from her bedroom in just her underclothes, Brandon would tell her to get dressed. Her underclothes alone covered more of her body than any of her clothes in Darhabar, but to this English sea captain, it was not enough.
    And she had never seen Brandon's unclothed body; not that she particularly wanted to. But he seemed to go out of his way to protect her from seeing something with which she was all too familiar. Almost from the day she had arrived in the palace, she had been wandering in and out of the servants' rooms or Poppy's bedroom.
    Then of course she had lived on the edge of the harem, where nudity was not only commonplace, but expected. Most of the women were very proud of their bodies and would have been highly amused at the English way of covering oneself.
    "Something is troubling you," Brandon commented softly. "Can you tell me what it is?" He'd been studying her profile closely and wishing, as he did often, that he could read her mind.
    "I want to ask you a question, but I'm afraid you'll be angry with me.**
    Brandon's brows rose on this. "I'm sure you would agree that I don't anger easily.**
    "That's true," Sunny agreed with a wry smile, thinking of how many times he should have beaten her. "But this is personal. This is not something the English talk about, and I know you want me to be English."
    "You are English, Sunny, and you're going to be living in England, but I'm not trying to wipe away every moment of your past. If there is something I can tell you, I will."
    Sunny looked out to sea again and then turned back to Brandon.
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    He watched as she crossed her arms over her chest as though trying to protect herself.
    "I want to know about my mother's body.** These words were uttered in a great rush, as though she were afraid of not getting them out.
    Brandon's face gave nothing away, but he was calling himself every type of fool for not reading her worry over her own figure much sooner. Until that moment he'd completely forgotten how she had been led to believe she was older. His voice was calm and gentle as he answered her question.
    "Your mother was fairly tall and her figure was lovely. She carried herself with grace and confidence.**
    Sunny's disappointment with this description was more than evident. She turned back to the sea, and Brandon hesitated, not wanting to embarrass either of them but knowing she needed to know more.
    "Your mother had